


enough

by steviesbucks



Series: unholy matrimony [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel
Genre: (because of that: Id Is Struggling A Little Bit), Crack Treated Seriously, Emotional Baggage, F/M, Facing Fears, Fluff, Jemma Simmons Has PTSD, Post-Episode: s06e06 Inescapable, but it all ends nicely so, the l word is said
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:49:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27106750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steviesbucks/pseuds/steviesbucks
Summary: his arm was just resting loosely over her bare back, fingers ghosting over her ribs. it tickled; she uncurled from the ball she slept in and stretched out, hearing her neck crack. she flipped over to face him, studying his sleeping features.
Relationships: Framework Leo Fitz/Music Box Jemma Simmons
Series: unholy matrimony [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1941484
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	enough

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!! Part four of this series- this is basically just entirely fluff because at this point these two really needed it :') This section is set the morning after the night of 'divine' because I hadn't actually written a direct sequel to a ficlet before this. Part four is going to be the penultimate part but I may end up uploading little snippets between each section in an extra part if I write more because I have to say, I'm kind of attached to this pair, their faults and all!   
> Thank you once more to my amazing friends and betareaders [hazzarat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazzarat) and [showzen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/showzen), they're wonderful and you should 100% check them out if you'd like to <3

when id woke up, she was a little surprised to find she wasn’t alone. despite them having shared the bed for the past few weeks, leo always managed to wake up before her. this was much nicer. his arm was just resting loosely over her bare back, fingers ghosting over her ribs. it tickled; she uncurled from the ball she slept in and stretched out, hearing her neck crack. she flipped over to face him, studying his sleeping features. 

he looked at peace for the moment- nightmares bothered him sometimes, she knew, even if he didn’t tell her. he’d be more tense than usual, wouldn’t look quite so like himself. she reached out, hand stopping just before his chest until she reminded herself he wasn’t about to push her away. her hand settled over his heart, reminded of the last time she’d had her hand near somebody’s heart. it’d been when she ripped fitz’s out. she wouldn’t do that now, though, not to him. their argument the night before echoed through her mind; if he loved her, did that mean he’d stop disappearing before she woke up?

the man stirred slightly, eyes starting to open. id pulled her hand back to just rest next to him, just in case. since when was she... shy? leopold’s eyes blinked open, looking at her and then down at her hand. he offered her a half smile, the same he’d given before they fell asleep last night. she smiled back. idris moved closer, smile turning to a grin when she realised it mirrored the positions they were in the night before. she settled herself against his bare chest, happy when he didn’t push her away, instead wrapping his arm around her waist. he was still warm and she hid her face in his skin. this was much better than fighting, she decided. 

“morning,” he greeted, shifting the blankets so it covered more of id’s bare body. id nodded against him, pressing a kiss. “not up to talking?”    
  
she shrugged, dropping her shoulders when he pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. “i think i want to have a bath,” she spoke into his chest. 

“that’s fine- i’ll shave after you’ve had your bath.” 

“you can just do it at the same time,” she insisted, rolling over and slipping out of bed to make her way out to the bathroom. she couldn’t lay there forever, no matter how much she wanted to. she didn’t bother to get dressed; she’d only be talking the clothes off again, what was the point? she started running the hot water, grabbing the container of bubble bath she’d found to pour some in. she left the bathroom and leaned in the doorway of the bedroom as leopold looked her up and down. he was sat up in bed, hair tousled from moving in his sleep. 

“what are you looking at?”   
  
“what else would i be looking at? you, id, i’m looking at you.” 

“why?”    


“well, because you’re… you look nice.” 

idris grinned, crossing her arms over her chest. “i’m not wearing anything to look nice.” 

“you still look beautiful,” he replied. she took a few steps closer to the bed, coming to stand with her knees pressed against the mattress. 

“you said nice a moment ago.”

“pedantic,” he grumbled, reaching out to splay a hand over her hip. 

she drummed her fingers against his hand to the tune she’d heard on the radio, bobbing her head. “what does pedantic mean?”    
  
“means you focus a lot on little details, forget to look at the bigger picture.”    
  
“ _ you _ were the one who changed what you said,” she teased, sliding her hand up his arm and over his shoulder to run her thumb over his jaw and underside of his chin. His usually neat facial hair was growing a little stubbly and it scratched against the pad of her finger. “you do need a shave.” she leaned down a little to press their lips together, a shiver running up her spine when he squeezed her hip. she pulled back slowly, carefully stepping away from the bed. “bath time.” 

he nodded, stretching his arms above his head. “i’ll be in soon to shave, if you don’t mind.” 

she gave him two thumbs up- that always made him laugh- then made her way back into the bathroom, turning the tap off. she always managed to get it  _ just  _ right, somehow. idris carefully lowered herself into the bath, careful not to splash too much water over the side. she relaxed in the hot water, resting her head back against the tile as she wiggled her toes, moving to make sure she was as comfortable as she could be. she’d learned she’d rather liked bathing (as long as her head didn’t go fully under the water) on the first night they’d ended up in this house.

she’d not quite gotten over the excitement of being alive and their... activities. she had slipped around too much in the bath, her head dipping under the water when she was meant to be rinsing the shampoo from her hair. jemma had told her about her time in the containment pod after the fall of shield in great detail. it was like idris was there. dragged down by a heavy body as she tried to swim to the surface, begging herself to hold on for just a moment longer to save herself, to save  _ him _ \- 

it was safe to say id hadn’t tried putting her head under the water after that, carefully leaning back whenever she needed to wash her hair out in the bath or rinsing it separately in the shower. the water didn’t feel quite so warm and she scrubbed at her arm with her hand, trying to warm herself back up. she grabbed the sponge from the side, lathering it up with soap as leopold walked in. he’d put a pair of loose pyjama pants on but had left off a shirt and she reached out to prod his rib with a soapy hand. 

leo rolled his eyes at her, opening the cabinet above the sink as she started scrubbing at her shoulders. “can’t believe you’d prod me so viciously.”

“you’re lucky i didn’t  _ tickle  _ you,” she mumbled, putting a bit more pressure on so she hopefully got some of that warmth back. she furrowed her eyebrows as she moved to scrub down her arm as well. it wasn’t working and the little tingling panic wasn’t going away. she knew logically nothing bad would happen while she was in the bath- leo would pull her up if her head slipped under the surface. why was she nervous? stupid jemma and her stupid fears. 

“be gentle, you might hurt yourself.” leo placed a hand on her shoulder and she jumped, turning her attention to her arm. it was red from where she’d been scrubbing and id sighed, resting her hand on top and leaving her sponge for the moment. “what’s got you so worked up?” he was speaking softly, no hints of taunting or cruelty in his tone.  _ he  _ was nervous because  _ she  _ was nervous. 

empathy. jemma had told id she wanted to be a biologist when she was very young. she was told she was an empath and she’d told id that she was scared she might not live up to what everybody wanted. id remembered feeling like there was always somebody watching, judging, despite being the only one in the music box. always somebody telling her she wasn’t good enough. 

“water,” she replied, fingertips skimming the surface of the bubbles in the bath, “water and that first bath i had. where my head went under.” 

leo nodded in understanding after the first ‘water’, obviously remembering even without her prompting. “you know, they say the best way to get over your fears is to face them head-on.” 

“who’s  _ they _ ?”    
  
“scientists, probably- it’s just something that i got told a lot growing up. i was really scared of dogs when i was young, wouldn’t dare to stroke one if it came near me in the street.” he pulled down the shaving cream and razor, lathering his face up. 

“you were scared of dogs? but when we went on a walk-”    
  
“i stroked one, yeah. it was because i managed to get over my fear by just… spending more time around dogs until i realised i had nothing to be afraid of.” 

“and you think that might work for me?” id questioned, still not really sure. 

“maybe, yeah. i wouldn’t let anything bad happen.” leo’s smile was barely visible through the shaving foam on his face and she almost laughed, looking down at the water to avoid making eye contact with him. there was something in his eyes that made idris feel like she was being watched again, beyond the fact he was looking at her. it felt like he was looking past her skin, seeing whatever was going on inside her head. not judging, not critiquing, just… looking. 

she felt  _ seen _ . that wasn’t something she’d experienced before. “i know you wouldn’t, but i’m still not sure.” 

“what’s stopping you from just dipping your head under?” 

“i don’t know, it’s just- it’s like i can’t physically make my body move when i get too close to the water, like there’s something holding me back so i don’t slip.” she thought about it, envisioned herself dipping under the surface of the water- and winced at the ache in her stomach, the way she couldn’t imagine being safe under warm water, just trapped in the freezing abyss. “i can’t.” 

“do you trust me to make sure you don’t get hurt? because i’ll keep hold of you the entire time.” the sincerity in his voice was almost painful. 

she still didn’t look at him, the water much more interesting now. if she looked, she might say yes, just to know that she wasn’t disappointing anybody. id shook her head, trying to physically will the thought away; she was only doubting herself because of all those years listening to jemma and her fears. id wasn’t going to do anything she didn’t want to do for anybody, not even him.

“i trust you, of course i do, but that doesn’t just automatically make things easy.” 

idris heard him turn towards the sink again, attention still on the water. “you’re right, you’re right. i’m… i’m sorry, id, i didn’t mean to push.” 

“it’s not your fault. you were just trying to help,” she assured, grabbing her forgotten sponge to continue cleaning herself up. they lapsed into a comfortable silence, the only noise made being the occasional splash as she shifted in the water or the drag of the razor against leopold’s face. it was nice, this somewhat crude form of intimacy they’d crafted for themselves. id closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall again; washing her hair could wait. 

a few moments later, though, he broke the silence. “if you wanted, i could help you wash your hair.”    
  
“you could?” she cracked her eyelids, looking over at where he was leant against the sink, beard now trimmed and face clean. 

“i’ll wet it so you don’t have to put your head so close to the water. you can shampoo and whatever else if you want, i just thought it might be nice.” he sounded a little nervous, wringing his hands together. “you can say no, obviously-”

“that’d be nice, actually,” id admitted, sitting up properly and moving forward a little in the bath. she watched as he came to kneel by the side of the bath, reaching out to prod his shoulder again. 

“are you sure this is alright?”    
  
“very sure.” she gave a smile that was hopefully reassuring, tilting her head back and closing her eyes. she heard him get some water in his hands, pouring it over her head. she relaxed when she realised none of the water was going to get in her eyes. this was safe-  _ she was safe.  _

she opened her eyes again when she heard leopold shuffle away from the side of the bath, digging around in the cabinet under the sink until he pulled out a jug, holding it up so she could see. “this should make it a lot easier.” he moved back by her side, filling the jug with water and putting a hand on her forehead so the water didn’t pour forwards. she liked this, she decided quickly, slumping down a little as she relaxed. leo chuckled a little, hand smoothing over the crown of her head. “shall i deal with shampoo? you look like you’re about to fall asleep.” 

id nodded slowly, moving to lean against the side of the bath. she heard the pop of a cap and then he was working the shampoo into her scalp, careful not to tug on her hair or press too hard. it was wonderful. he hummed a tune as he worked down her hair, something they’d listened to on the radio the day before; something warm bubbled in her stomach as she remembered how he’d watched her dancing around. he didn’t join in, sadly, instead reading his book. she kept feeling his eyes on her. that look was so warm. 

“can we dance today, leo?” she mumbled, shivering as he massaged the suds into the hair at the base of her head. it was making her glad she was sat down because she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to use her legs right now. 

“you want to dance? you can dance whenever you want.” he poured water over the bottom of her hair first. his fingertips were hot against her back, burning little imprints of himself onto her skin. he was going to be there forever and it made her want it all the more. the only other thing she’d known forever was pain. this didn’t hurt. 

“i want to dance with  _ you _ ,” she clarified, leaning her head back as leo poured the water closer to her scalp. she reached her arm out to curl around his wrist, making sure his hand didn’t move from where it was keeping her face from getting wet. 

he pulled the jug away from her, hand staying still. “you alright? need me to stop?”    
  
“i’m okay, just- keep talking to me, and- and don’t move your hand.” she loosened her grip on his wrist, thumb sliding over his palm and up the back of his hand over his knuckles. he paused a little before leaning forwards to kiss her temple, no doubt wetting his cheek on her hair. 

“i won’t move, don’t worry.” he poured the last little bit of water over her scalp and then carefully wrung her hair out. id opened her eyes in time to see him grab the conditioner bottle from the corner of the bath. “we can dance today, if that’s what you want.” 

she just nodded her thanks, looking at him properly as he popped the bottle open. she noticed dark marks high on his shoulder in the shape of fingertips. “did i do that to you?”    
  
“do what?” he turned his attention to where she was looking- then hummed a little, covering his shoulder with his hand. “i think they were from last night, it’s not a big deal.” 

she shifted his hand out of the way, leaning forwards to press a kiss to the mark. she vaguely recalled resting her hands on his shoulders for purchase; her mind was elsewhere at the time, trying to pay attention to all the different feelings and sensations she was feeling. much like earlier, leo’s fingers were like flames against her back, burning her in the sweetest way. one hand rested against her hip, steadying id as she moved atop him. it was much slower than the first time, nothing there to stop them from enjoying themselves. the memory lit something warm in her gut and she leaned in again, leopold meeting her half way. their lips met firmly but tenderly, the bottle of conditioner thumping against the bath mat as he let it go to cup her cheek. idris leaned into his touch. she liked this; they seemed to just fit together as if they’d been made with the other in mind. 

idris realised, somewhat abruptly, she probably  _ was _ made for leopold. she was made from jemma’s mind, after all, and what was the one concept that was inescapable as long as you were in jemma’s brain? fitz. even her dark thoughts were populated by him- jemma’s fears surrounding fitz (or her fears  _ of _ fitz for just a little while) were concepts id wasn’t a stranger to. she looked like jemma, in her base features, the same eyes and face shape and speckling of freckles across her nose as her creator. from what she’d seen of him, leopold looked like fitz- the main difference was in the way they carried themselves and the way they looked at her. fitz was scared of her; leo only ever looked intrigued, even vaguely amused. they were never scared of one another. why would they be? 

she pulled back from the kiss slowly, gazing up at leo, wondering if he was thinking the same thing. unlike her, he’d had a life before all that had happened with their other selves- a family, a job, other things he hadn’t spoken much about like how he could play the piano and had always had a fondness for primates. he’d been given love before, power and wealth and somebody to devote himself to, a loyalty to uphold. right then, however, might have been the first time both of them chose to give in to somebody else. that’s what it was- giving in. he looked back at her, blinking slowly. she was still leaned against his palm, his thumb stroking over her cheekbone. she tried to think of something to say, a question to ask, a way to find out what he was thinking. 

id cleared her throat, coaching her tone in the direction she thought was polite. “can i ask you a question?” 

“go ahead.” 

“would you go back to the place you came from? if you could? back to everything you had.”    
  
leo furrowed his brow, tilting his head a little. “back to… my world?”    
  
she nodded as best she could, leaned against him like a lifeline. “if you could go to your home and stay there, have everything be normal again.” if she was pressed against him and he said yes, maybe he wouldn’t realise he’d probably be able to build something to take him back. maybe he’d stay anyways, here on this earth with her. maybe it’d be enough. 

he considered for a moment, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he looked around the bathroom. she followed his gaze at the peeling paint on the walls, the window that wouldn’t shut properly, the leaky sink tap. “no.” 

it was id’s turn to blink slowly, wondering if she’d heard him right. “you’d stay?”    
  
“of course i’d stay,” he chuckled, smiling like it was the most normal thing to say in the universe. like idris got told often that somebody would rather stay with her than go back to the place they came from, their home. he wanted  _ this _ , wanted  _ her. _ “why would i leave?” 

her reply was quiet. “because i love you.”    
  
“that’s why i’d stay.” 

the surprise was obviously evident on her face; he broke into a grin, hand cupping her cheek moving to carefully rub her upper arm instead. “i wouldn’t have said it last night if i didn’t mean it.”    
  
“can you say it again?”   
  
“i love you, id. shall i finish your hair? i think we got a bit distracted.”    
  
she nodded, drumming her fingers against the edge of the bath as he worked the conditioner into her hair, skin tingling from his touch. leo had a choice and he’d chosen her. she was enough-  _ this _ was enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks a ton for reading! I really hope I managed to entertain you. Feel free to comment, leave kudos or get in contact with me on tumblr at docjemsimmons! Have a brilliant day <3


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